The Civil Guard investigated in October a 43-year-old person for an alleged crime of animal abuse and abandonment after sacrificing the dog that he had adopted months before. According to the Benemérita, the investigated argued that the dog had bitten her minor son and, according to the veterinarian, she had witnessed an episode of aggressiveness when the animal was in her clinic, in Playa Honda.
On November 3, the animal shelter that gave the dog up for adoption, named Cadillac, 12 years old and of mixed breed, filed a complaint with the Civil Guard.
According to the shelter, they learned of the events last month because when they give an animal up for adoption, they monitor it to see the animal's condition and the conditions in which they are found. For months, the person adopting the dog sends photographs in which the dog is seen socializing with the family. But, suddenly, the person adopting stops sending photographs to the shelter.
After the complaint, the SEPRONA carries out all the appropriate investigations and collects all the inquiries, with the aim of locating the person adopting the dog. Once identified, he states that the dog "had aggressive behaviors with children and that, on some occasion, he bit his son, without providing any medical report in this regard," they point out from the police force. He explained to the agents that it was unfeasible to have him at home living with his son and, therefore, he took him to the vet to have him sacrificed, at which point the vet witnessed an episode of aggressiveness in the clinic.
The Civil Guard collected more data from statements from people who had had contact with the dog, one of them being a dog trainer and the other a neighbor. Both said that the dog could change its character due to the long time that the dog spent alone every day locked up without taking it out into the street, being in poor hygienic-sanitary conditions (surrounded by a large amount of feces and urine), without taking it out of the house and without the animal being able to exercise. Likewise, the trainer never recommended his sacrifice.
Finally, the Civil Guard points out that the adopter did not exhaust all possibilities before the sacrifice, being able to return the dog to the shelter or redirect the aggressive behavior of the dog, before proceeding to its sacrifice, certifying the veterinarian aggressive behavior directed at children.
The proceedings were made available to the Arrecife Duty Court as well as the Las Palmas Provincial Prosecutor's Office for the Environment.
